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From Kings Bay Plowshares 7
Judge Lisa Godbey Wood, presiding over the trial and sentencing of the Kings Bay Plowshares in Brunswick, GA, has denied any further continuances for sentencing as requested by the last four defendants due to COVID-19 restrictions. The remaining KBP7 defendants have been ordered to be sentenced on November 12th and 13th. Despite their desire to be sentenced in person in open court as is their legal right, three of the defendants have reluctantly chosen to do it remotely via video because of the health risks of travel to the court in Georgia for themselves and supporters. Mark Colville has filed a motion to challenge this order.
Although the judge has delayed the sentencing five times because of health and safety concerns, she said that was enough even though the nation is now experiencing record-breaking numbers of more than 120,000 daily cases. "With nearly a quarter of a million US COVID deaths, and prison cases exploding again, more court delays are certainly advisable, " said Veterans For Peace activist and KBP7 supporter Ellen Barfield of Baltimore.
The court plans to convene for sentencing on Thurs. Nov. 12, at 10 am for Carmen Trotta, and 1 pm for Clare Grady and on Friday, Nov. 13, at 10 am for Mark Colville and at 1 pm for Martha Hennessy.
A phone number will be made available early next week by the court to listen to the sentencing of the last four defendants as was done with the first three. It will be sent out early next week's notice and will also be posted on the website.
In a rare opportunity, as a consequence of COVID-19 court and travel restrictions, hundreds of people were able to listen on a conference call line to the October sentencing of Fr. Steve Kelly and Patrick O'Neill. They gave their final statements as to why they were compelled to act against the nuclear doomsday machine at the Trident nuclear submarine base at Kings Bay. They also heard the testimony from character witnesses for the defendants attesting to the good things they do in their lives and their devotion to peace. Many of these statements are posted on the website in recent news.
Some of the supporters were moved to tears but also filled with joy by their courage. We invite you to call in to hear the four defendants' profound and powerful statements and to hear the testimony from their character witnesses.
Fr. Steve Kelly has continued to be held in jail in Brunswick while the Bureau of Prisons has taken an inordinate amount of time to calculate that he has fulfilled the time for his sentence of 33 months. He is now expecting to be transported in the next week to Tacoma, WA by federal marshals to answer to a probation violation from a prior trespass conviction at the West coast Trident base. We will let people know what happens when we find out. It may take several weeks to bring him to Tacoma.
Patrick O'Neill has been ordered to report to the federal prison camp in Elkton, OH on January 14 for his 14-month sentence. This is more than an 8-hour drive from his home in North Carolina.
On Oct. 24 the historic Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons was ratified by the 50th nation necessary for this international law to enter into force. This law, making nuclear weapons illegal now, takes effect on Jan. 22, 2021, a little more than 75 years after the US dropped atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. More information can be found at https://www.icanw.org/the_treaty.
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